Sometimes, we want to take the first N items from a generator or list with Python.

In this article, we’ll look at how to take the first N items from a generator or list with Python.

How to take the first N items from a generator or list with Python?

To take the first N items from a generator or list with Python, we can use the slice syntax for lists and itertools.islice method for generators.

For instance, we write

top_5 = array[:5]

to return the first 5 items from the array list.

And we get the first items from a generator with

import itertools

top_5 = itertools.islice(my_list, 5) 

We call islice with the my_list generator and 5 to return an iterator with the first 5 items.

Conclusion

To take the first N items from a generator or list with Python, we can use the slice syntax for lists and itertools.islice method for generators.